#bam bam bammmm music time

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 9th January

A relative rarity this week, I thought, upon seeing the name - an artist I genuinely hadn't heard of. It sounded like a reggae artist, somehow, to me, but no, it turns out Joe Brown, of Joe Brown & The Bruvvers, was a former steam train stoker from Lincolnshire turned skiffle star. And it was at this point, looking him up, that I realised that no, we have heard from Joe before, and not even that long ago. Which didn't bode great for how memorable this one was going to be. Still, I went in with an open mind - and honestly, I'm glad I did!

It Only Took a Minute - Joe Brown & The Bruvvers (peaked at Number 6)

I'm not going to herald this as some forgotten classic. But it's a nice piece of feel-good cheese. We open straight away on some deep bam-bammmm backing singers, and some equally silly doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-do-do-dos from the female backing singers. Add a guitar line, shadowing the ladies, and some thumpy skiffle guitar and drumming, and you've already got the recipe for something pretty endearing. It's not a hugely polished sound, but everyone involved sounds like they're having fun.

The lyrics, when they then arrive, are kind of sweet. The concept is simple; lots of things take a long time to develop, but it only took Joe a minute to fall in love. Didn't take a lifetime / To make my dreams come true / No, it only took a minute baby / To fall in love with you. Trees may take a century to grow, and the stars' shine may take thousands of years to reach you, but falling in love is instant. It took a million stars a-twinklin' / To light that sky up blue / But it only took a minute, baby / To fall in love with you. I love the image here of Joe and his love walking out under the stars, past the trees, pondering just how vast and old the universe is, and just how young and in-love they are. There's that kind of sentimentality to it all, it's very cute.

There's also something kind of cool about the guitar work here, especially the solo that comes in about halfway through, because it's got a really straightforward, scrappy sound to it - we're past "rock and roll jangle" and well into "just regular old rock music" territory. It's not that there's no connection to the rock and roll music of old, this doesn't ultimately feel like it's pushing the envelop too far beyond things we've already heard. But it's cool to see rock music as we think of it today shaping up. It almost sounds Beatles-esque, honestly. Which I'm sure I'll be saying more and more as the Fab Four approach. But there you go. 1963, and we're getting there!

I really liked this one. I'm not sure it's the technical best, and it's a huge cheese-fest. I really can't overstate just how naff the backing vocals sound, or how rough around the edges it all sounds. But between the doo doo doos, the propulsive drumming, the sweet lyrics and the enjoyable guitar solo, you've got something that I nevertheless ended up with a real soft spot for. I'm not sure it's something I'll be coming back to a whole tonne, but good fun, none the less.

Favourite song of the ironically-almost-two-minutes-long bunch: It Only Took a Minute

[garrandia]

🎸

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All That Could Ever Be - Rick Schaffer

Killer - The Hoosiers

Light's Theme (Kira theme A) - Death Note